Oscars 2012 in photos

Billy Crystal served as the host for the 84th Academy Awards, leading the ceremony for his ninth time. Missed the big night? Take a look at our photo gallery from the 2012 Oscars to find out who took home the most awards.

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Meryl Streep won the ‘Actress In A Leading Role’ category for her performance in The Iron Lady, while Jean Dujardin took home the ‘Actor In A Leading Role’ award for his work in The Artist.

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Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow presented the award for ‘Best Documentary’. Downey Jr. joked that he was there “filming a documentary called The Presenter.”

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Before the ceremony, Sacha Baron Cohen walked the red carpet dressed as his character from his forthcoming movie, The Dictator. It was previously reported that he had been banned, but a spokesperson from the Academy later revealed that he was allowed to attend, but they would rather he didn’t turn his appearance into a publicity stunt.

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The Artist was named Best Picture, while Michel Hazanavicius won the ‘Achievement In Directing’ award for the black and white silent film. In total, The Artist won five awards at the ceremony.

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The ‘Supporting Actress’ award went to Octavia Spencer from The Help.

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Flight Of The Conchords man Bret McKenzie picked up the prize for ‘Original Song’ for his contribution to The Muppets, ‘Man Or Muppet’.

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Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy made an appearance, as well.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arriving on the red carpet. Pitt was nominated for best actor and best picture for his film Moneyball.

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Billy Crystal is in second place for hosting the most Oscars ceremonies (behind Bob Hope, who took on hosting duties 19 times).

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Octavia Spencer poses for a picture with her ‘Supporting Actress’ award.

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Bridesmaids‘ ‘Best Supporting Actress’ nominee Melissa McCarthy and her co-star Rose Byrne continued to play a Martin Scorsese drinking game they had created at the Golden Globes, drinking every some someone yelled “Scorsese!” from the audience.

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Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz co-presented the award for ‘Best Costume Design and Best Makeup’.

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Jessica Chastain was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for The Help.

Michelle Williams was nominated for ‘Best Actress’ for her perfornance in My Week With Marilyn.

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Ben Stiller and Emma Stone presented the Oscar for ‘Visual Effects’ (which was awarded to Hugo). Click here to see a full list of winners.

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Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell presented an award to Bret McKenzie for ‘Best Original Song’ for The Muppets (after treating the crowd to some cymbal playing, of course).

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Bridesmaids‘ Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig presented the ‘Live Action Short’ award to Oorlagh George and Terry George for their work on The Shore.

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The ‘Best Animated Short Film’ award went to William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg for the film The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

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Colin Firth presented Meryl Streep with the ‘Best Actress’ award for her performance in Iron Lady. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the ceremony, you can read a blog rounding up the 10 most memorable moments from the night.

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Angelina Jolie presented Woody Allen with the ‘Original Screenplay’ Oscar for Midnight In Paris. However, people seemed to be more interested in her dress – a Twitter account has since been created, dedicated to her right leg, and has already attracted nearly 10,000 followers.

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Meryl Streep celebrates her victory, posing with a life-size Oscar.

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Milla Jovovich arrives on the red carpet.

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Penelope Cruz and Owen Wilson presented the gong for ‘Best Original Score’ to Ludovic Bourse for The Artist.

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Rooney Mara was nominated for ‘Best Actress’ for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but lost to Meryl Streep.

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Alex Henning, Rob Legato and Ben Grossmann pose with their prizes for ‘Visual Effects’ for Hugo.

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Natalie Portman presented the ‘Actor In A Leading Role’ gong to The Artist‘s Jean Dujardin.

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Cirque du Soleil’s performance paid homage to the films that have been honoured by the Academy Awards over the years.

Asghar Farhadi accepted Iran’s first Oscar for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ for A Separation. During his acceptance speech, he said: “At the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics.”

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Gwyneth Paltrow walks down the red carpet.

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Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty were nominated for ‘Sound Editing’ for their work on both The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Hugo, with the latter film taking home the prize.